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Show INSTALLMENT SEVENTEEN of Texas ex-peace officers to Invade the countryside and kill without trial all suspected rustlers. By mistake, Terry and his foreman, Larry, are attacked by the invaders, and they runt to cover in a little cabin. Jeff, thinking them rus- . ' ness that went over him like a wave. "Good old Jeff!" a black-headed youth shouted. "They didn't get you this time if they did cripple you." The light-headedness had passed and Jeff had found his voice. "Why didn't they?" he asked. "Ellison's gunmen were plugging at me plenty, plen-ty, and I hadn't a chance to get away. This fellow you're going to hang this bird Terry ran out from the cabin where the Texans were shooting at him and Larry, and he carried me back to cover while these hired warriors shot at him. If you-all had the sense of a rabbit you would know neither one of these two men up there are friends "of Ellison's crowd. The Texans shot a horse under Larry today while he was trying to escape and now you feeble-minded jackasses want to hang him because he's a tillicum of these invaders. Can you beat that? You fool away a couple of hours trying to bump off some guys who are more on our side than against us when you ought to be riding hell-for-leather to get to the war." What Jeff had said came to most of those present as a complete surprise. sur-prise. The men who had brought Jeff to town had departed almost at once to join those in the field, and they had not had time to tell the story to many. "How do we know these Texans shot a horse under Larry Richards?" Rich-ards?" somebody shouted. "Lee Hart saw Terry and Richards ride in on one horse, with these birds chasing them like a bunch of Cheyennes. Isn't that right, Lee?" "I saw someone come riding in thataway two guys on one horse but I don't know who they were, Jeff." The admission came reluctantly. reluc-tantly. "That's right. You didn't stay to find out, did you? Well, I don't say tiers, comes to help them, Is wounded. After their rescue, Terry and Larry are arrested by the sheriff for safekeeping, a mob threatening to lynch them because be-cause of "the big rancher" activities. Ellen seeks Jeff's aid. sion from despair to joy was flooding flood-ing him. "I learned how from you fellows today," Brand said. He clutched at Roan Alford for support and slid down to the hay in a faint. Already the crowd was thinning. The rest would be anti-climax. A girl on the outskirts of it drew the curious glances of several as they passed. Ellen came out of her terror to awareness of herself. She turned and hurried back to the Holden House. CHAPTER XXXV Ellen was too excited to sit in her room at the Holden House and wait for her father to come and tell her the news. A thought flashed to mind. Her father would be at the Round Top Hotel, where of course he must have driven Jeff after the storming of the jail had been abandoned. He had told her to stay there, so she had better return to it. Slipping through a side door, she walked swiftly down the dark street. Several men were standing round the doorway of the Round Top when Ellen drew near. A buggy pulled up at the door and somebody got out It was Doctor Harris. "Goddlemighty!" he ripped out. "What's the sense in patching up you dunderheads when you start rampaging over the country soon as my back is turned?" A moment later Ellen was face to face with Calhoun Terry. None of the tumult that filled her found expression. ex-pression. She said in a small murmur, mur-mur, "Is my father here?" Terry looked at her, surprised. She ought not to be out alone on a night like this. "Yes. He's with Jeff. I'll tell him you are here. Better wait in the parlor." He led the way, closing the door behind them. "Jeff saved our lives, with your father's help," he said. "Yes, I was there. He saved yours, as you did his this afternoon." "You were there?" he repeated. "Yes. Jeff and father wouldn't let me go with them, but I couldn't keep away." A vibrant wire strummed in her voice. She wondered won-dered if he could look at her and not know the truth. He thought he knew why she had been unable to stay away, and he said gently: "I think Jeff will be all right in a few days, though his fever is high now. He was fine, wasn't he?" THE STORY SO FAR: Ellen Carey seems Interested in two men, Jeff Brand, rustler, and Calhoun Terry, ranch manager. man-ager. Four rustlers had been mysteriously mysteri-ously killed. The big ranchers, much over Terry's protest, hired an army , CHAPTER XXXIV i Roan Alford helped Brand put on j his coat. Jeff sat on the bed gripping grip-ping the covers to steady himself. "Gimme my gun belt," he said. "You don't need no gun tonight, Jeff," Roan told him. "You couldn't use one good if you needed it and you won't." "I'll take the belt, Roan. I wouldn't feel dressed without it." Alford buckled the belt around him. Lane Carey walked into the room. They supported him to the wagon and helped him to get into the hay-filled hay-filled bed. Ellen arranged a pillow which she had brought from the hotel. She said in a low voice to her father, "I want to go with you." "No," Brand said. "We won't have a, girl in this. It's a man's game." "Jeff is right," Carey agreed. "You stay here, honey, and don't worry. We'll work this out somehow." some-how." Ellen moved to one side, her heart filled with a leaden despair, and watched the wagon roll down the street. But she could not go back into the Round Top Hotel and sit there quietly while the man she loved was being lynched. At least she could return to the Holden House, which was much nearer the jaiL She came out of the quiet residence resi-dence section where the Round Top was situated to the main business street leading to the square. Even this was now deserted except for a couple"" of running men. She knew they were hurrying to be in at the death. Ellen had come to a street corner from which she could see a segment seg-ment of the milling crowd. Every step she took now toward her hotel would carry her farther from the jaiL She found she could not do it. She could not walk away and leave Calhoun Terry to his fate. Perhaps Per-haps she could not help him. Her father would be angry, knowing that she was making herself a subject of critical gossip. None the less, she had to do her best. She turned to the left and ran down the street to get to the mob. Lane Carey drove the team through the square and down the road leading to the jail. He did not wait at the outskirts of the crowd but continued to urge the horses toward to-ward the door. "Help get us through," Carey urged. "I've got Jeff Brand here. He's wounded and can't get to the front afoot, but he has something to say. It's important." Calhoun had a sudden sense of the tragic futility of life. She was so young, so eternally young, and she demanded all good things of life. The girl was dancing on the quicksands of the future, the warm hope in her heart of a happiness ever after. But life would maul her. For all his good intentions Jeff would fail her, because of the fatal lack of stability in his character. "Yes and so were you," she said. He said nothing for a moment, but his look gave a significance to his silence that kindled in her bosom a hot excitement. Yet when he spoke his words ignored this. "Would you like to see Jeff from the door? I don't suppose the doctor will let you go nearer now. because he doesn't want him excited." "Not tonight," she said. "I'll wait here for father." "I'll tell him you are here." He returned in a minute. "Your father has to take the wagon back to the corral. I have offered to see you to your hotel." His restrained manner chilled her. As she walked beside him, Ellen caught herself thinking how strange was a woman's fancy. Out of a thousand men it flew to one. When his voice was kind, it played on chords in her heart. If he walked beside her in friendliness, she trod the hilltops in a world reborn. But when his eyes had no gifts for her, he was drenched with woe. Terry spoke of Jeff. "He is very loyal to his friends and will go to any lengths for them. I suppose you know he sent the money found in Turley's cabin to Jim Tetlow's wife to support the little children." Calhoun did not know exactly why he was marshaling marshal-ing talking-points in favor of Brand, unless it was because he had been a little less than fair to him and felt he ought to acknowledge it to the girl who loved the reckless scamp. "Yes," Ellen agreed listlessly, and turned the conversation to the first subject that came into her head. "What do you think is going to happen when the settlers meet these invaders? Will there be a battle bat-tle and a great many men killed?" He shook his head. "I don't know. Your father and I are riding up the Buck River valley. We are leaving as soon as we hear from Washington. Washing-ton. I don't think we shall get any favorable response from the government. govern-ment. Ellison arranged for it to keep hands off. Our idea is to try to be mediators between the two parties and fix up a settlement of some sort." "I don't see how you can do that, with both sides acting outside the law trying to destroy their enemy. You and father had better not get mixed up in it. You will only get Into trouble." "I'm glad Jeff Brand didn't feel that way tonight," he said, smiling' at her. "He took a lot more risk than we are going to run. He might have done himself great harm. Perhaps Per-haps he has, though I don't think so. But he did his job just the same." They had reached the Holden House. They said good night, neither of them happy in their parting. fTO BE CONTINUED) The pack around the jail door was more dense. Somebody had been sent for an axe, and those nearest were already throwing their weight against the door. The sheriff shouted down a warning. warn-ing. "A lot of you are going to get killed, boys. Terry and Richards are armed. We mean to fight." He was standing on a little railed balcony which faced the street. Terry Ter-ry and Richards joined him. Terry flung out the palm of his hand as a signal that he wanted to speak. The thunder of the mob redoubled, re-doubled, started to die down, swelled out again in crescendo. Terry Ter-ry waited, his lean, strong face showing no sign of fear. The voices stilled at last. Terry's scornful gaze swept the crowd. "No use to tell you I'm against this invasion of the Texans," he began. be-gan. "No use to tell you that I'm responsible for the breaking up the first of the big ranches in this district, dis-trict, and that on my advice the owners of the Diamond Reverse B are dividing it to sell to small settlers. set-tlers. You haven't brains enough to take in a simple little thing like that." He was interrupted by yells, but his strong, clear voice made itself heard above them. "I'll tell you something you can understand. The stairway is barricaded. Before you storm it we can shoot down eight or ten of you. Think that over, and then listen to my proposition." "To hell with yore proposition," someone shouted. "We're gonna string you up to a telegraph "pole." From the wagon seat Carey shouted shout-ed another opinion. "Sure we'll listen. lis-ten. Go ahead, Cal." Alford and two or three others backed Carey. The crowd fell in with their view. A good many were curious to hear what he had to say. "I'm the man you lunkheads want," Terry went on, taking his time. "Larry hasn't a thing to do with this. He's only a hired hand, and today he saved Jeff Brand's life from these Texans. You haven't a thing against him. All he did was take a job at cowpunching when he needed one. And Sheriff Hart is a good man. He means to do his duty and defend us. Very likely he will be killed. That would be a pity. Here's my proposition. Til surrender surren-der without a fight if you'll let Larry go." Larry's voice rang out instantly. "No, I won't have it that way. If you muttonheads don't know any better than to kill Cal Terry you will have to kill me too." "All right. Have it yore own way. Let's go, boys. Here's the axe." The sheriff called down an answer to that. He knew the voice. "Come out into the open, Lee. If you're so anxious to have good men killed don't stand away back there but step out and lead the attack." Somebody laughed at that and momentarily mo-mentarily eased the tension. Assisted by Roan Alford, the wounded man in the wagon got to his feet. It took him a moment to clear his head from the unsteadi- j "A Jot of you are going to get killed, boys." I blame you." Jeff's hit got a laugh, but he pushed on to make his point. "But I found out who they were when the two of them -came out of that cabin, one to drag me in and the other to hold Ellison's warriors back while he was doing it." "You- wouldn't be loadin' us, Jeff," Red said, making of the statement state-ment a question. "Why would I?" Brand flung at him. "I don't like a hair of this bird Terry's head. Twice I came near bumping him off. But I'm not tike you dumb geezers. I don't need a mule to kick me before I can take a hint. Terry and Ellison are at outs, probably because the Diamond Reverse Re-verse B is going to be offered for sale to small cowmen. The Texans jumped these two men up there and drove them into Lee Hart's place. They .were emptying a ton of lead at them when I drifted into the doings. do-ings. These boys not only yanked me into the cabin. They told Ellison Elli-son later, when he came with his flag of truce offering to let them go and hang me, that there was nothing doing since we three were all in the jam together." A shrill voice in the background made a contribution. "He wired the President for him to send troops from Fort Garfield to help these hired killers wipe out us boys." Lane Carey said his piece. "I signed that wire, Brad. And you have it wrong. We asked the President Presi-dent to stop the fighting. I didn't want a lot of your children made orphans. Jeff is right about the Diamond Reverse B going on sale to any of you who have a little money mon-ey to buy some land. Mr. Powers himself told me Cal Terry had persuaded per-suaded him to sell. You've made a mistake. Better admit it and call this off." "Or come a-smokin'," Jeff told them recklessly. "Count me in with these men upstairs." He poured out a dozen blistering epithets at the mob, and finished up by telling them they didn't know enough to pound sand in a rat hole. Some of the men in the crowd began to laugh. They knew the lynching was off, and deep down they were glad of it "All right, Jeff," one of them called. "You have sure given us a good cussin' out." Larry sat on the rail of the balcony bal-cony and grinned down at Brand. "Heap fine oration, Jeff. I'm for sending you to congress. I'll bet you'd twist the lion's tail proper." He had grazed death by a very close margin, and the swift revul- |